Harvard Health explains how thankfulness can change our lives pretty simply. As we name what we are grateful for we become aware that there’s a light in every darkness that is worth acknowledgement. We see that our happiness does not always depend on us, and it helps us to realise how we are connected to our environment. Research on gratitude demonstrated that people who list what they are grateful for tend to be happier in the long-run compared to people who list the things that irritate them. Another study pointed out that writing down a letter for ourselves where we explain what they are thankful for is likely to increase our happiness score. Thus, the link between gratitude and happiness is undeniably real and should be considered while we’re aiming to keep our mood up. 

Relationships between one and another also benefit from gratitude practises. A different study where couples were the subjects shows that couples who spare time to express what they are grateful for in the relationship and in the other person tend to feel more positive towards each other. Another important finding from the same study was that grateful couples were better at expressing their concerns and problems in a healthy way. 

Another important aspect in life that gratitude can affect is our work environment. To basically explain this link, grateful managers are actually motivators of the whole office. Saying “Thank you.” to the employees influence their work motivation significantly. A relevant research demonstrated this effect as using two different groups who work for a fundraising campaign. Only one group receives a motivational pep talk from their manager about how thankful they are for their efforts. The motivated group should have really been impressed by these words as they collected %50 more money than the other group.